The Second High-Level Regional Meeting was held in Manila, Philippines (27-29 August), led by the representatives of Maritime Administrations from Cambodia, Indonesia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Providing a platform to build and take stock of the progress of the MEPSEAS project, the delegations reached key agreements and outlined follow up actions.
Dealing with the capacity building component of the MEPSEAS project, which will focus on compliance, monitoring and enforcement, the delegations discussed developing and implementing administrative procedures for port State control and flag State implementation. In addition, cooperation under the Tokyo MoU umbrella was also explored.
The meeting further discussed the plans for a regional conference which would focus on green technologies for maritime transport, to be held in 2020. Lastly, the delegations emphasized their interest in gender equality by considering further engagement with the strategic partner, Women in Maritime Association (WIMA Asia) in order to empower the women in maritime industry.
All of these conclusions aim to advance the Sustainable Developments Goals attached to MEPSEAS: 5, 14 and 17.